EA Sports FC 27 Review

Ever since losing the FIFA license in 2022, EA rebranded the most dominant football video game series to the new FC banner but stuck with the annual releases and pretty much everything gameplay-wise.

For millions of football fans and enthusiasts all around the world, EA Sports FC titles remain the only solid option to enjoy some football action with their favourite teams online and with friends. While Konami's eFootball, better known as Pro Evolution Soccer (PES), still remains in the market, it falls short with rigid and gacha-like gameplay.

This year, EA Sports ambitiously tried to focus on what the fans have been craving for over the last several years: bringing back the original feeling of classic FIFA titles like FIFA 17 and FIFA 19. With a complete rework of the defence mechanics, career mode, and the introduction of the Grounds, an open-world lobby system seen in 2K's NBA titles, EA Sports FC 27 aims to restore the little faith players have left, with a promise of delivering a "brand-new" experience.

Unfortunately, while the new reworks, game balancing, and the Grounds feel like a major ambitious effort from EA, the game still manages to fall short by failing to address existing issues. I was hopeful to see EA Sports FC 27 stand out from its predecessor, but it all comes full circle with EA's ambiguous decision-making.

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EA Sports FC 27

Defending feels more natural

One of the biggest changes in EA Sports FC 27 is the complete overhaul of the defending system. Previous titles allowed players to abuse or use AI defenders to challenge and win balls with just a press of a button. But to my surprise, EA completely removed this feature, and I am not mad about it. Quite the contrary.

​The new system requires players to manually take control of their defender and use them to tackle or take possession of the ball from opponents. This little change matters a lot for the multiplayer meta because it eliminates the whole problem of AI defenders taking the charge.

To further illustrate my point, the manual tackle range and window are also far better than the previous auto-defending system. Jockeying is also faster than usual, allowing players to manually dictate how their opponents are in their own half. These smaller changes raise the skill ceiling for players, which will, in the long run, reward good players.

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EA Sports FC 27

The Grounds is an interesting experience

This year's rendition includes a very new and never-seen-before mode in an FC title. Labelled as the Grounds, this new mode is an open-world-like lobby with 100 players in the same session roaming around each other. As you can guess, this is very similar to the open-world lobby system seen in 2K's NBA titles, with all its pros and cons.

This new "game mode" aims to replace the Pro Clubs experience with more freedom. From the time I spent in that area, I can honestly say that it is not as bad as I thought it would be. While the layout and design of the whole thing might throw off players, it is an interesting hub to see a lively environment shaped around football culture. Unfortunately, this new mode is limited to current-gen consoles only, so players on PS5 and Xbox One will miss out.

Career Mode receives the biggest glow-up

​EA has brilliantly reworked the career mode with a new dynamic player ratings system. From this year's rendition, the player and manager career will feature a dynamic player rating system, replacing the fixed overall system seen since the game mode's inception.

With each season, player ratings will go up and down depending on their form, age, and other related factors. This is a major change, as it will affect all players across the career mode roster, even players you do not control. The spiral effect of this new rating system will reflect on the career mode's transfer market.

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EA Sports FC 27

Alongside the new layer of player rating, the transfer market also received a major revamp as it moves through different stages like its real-life counterpart. Other clubs or managers can interrupt your deal, which makes negotiation tactics much more crucial to the whole experience. All in all, this year's manager's career mode seems like a much more enjoyable experience compared to the player career mode.

Performance and network issues still haunt the experience

Network issues are still prevalent, like every other title. EA titles manage to simply frustrate you with their network issues of the bat. While every other game has a seamless account integration or syncing experience, EA manages to make it a horrible experience from the get-go.

As harsh as it sounds, I have been facing this issue since FIFA 17. Once you boot up the game, three out of ten times, you will face an issue where your EA account or the game refuses to go online even though your internet connection is at its best. Moreover, the co-op and solo season experience also takes a major hit from this issue if you are playing from any region other than Europe or North America.

Performance issues were mostly limited to bugs that are almost always an issue for most AAA games nowadays. I noticed input lag for passes or dribbling, which will surely be fixed with a future update. But since players are paying a major amount to get access to the game, issues like these stick out like a major sore thumb.

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EA Sports FC 27

Monetisation is worse than ever

What baffles me most as a casual gamer is how EA continues to make EA Sports FC 27 feel like a predatory monetisation experience. This year's system introduces yet another new currency, meaning players now have to track an additional resource on top of everything else.

To be fair, it isn't pay-to-win, and skipping it doesn't put you at a disadvantage. But that's not really the point. The issue is why players who've already paid a premium price for the game should need to spend more money, or juggle multiple currencies, in the first place.

This would sting far less if EA matched it with meaningful quality-of-life improvements elsewhere. Instead, it feels like introducing a new currency is the priority, not the kind of updates that would actually keep players engaged long-term.

Final Thoughts

If you have skipped the previous FC titles for the single-player experience, I can honestly recommend opting for FC 27, as the career mode experience is actually very streamlined now. As for online players who are looking for Ultimate Team action, I don't think there is any room for argument since you need to have the latest edition of the game. 

From the point of view of a casual gamer, I do not think you'll miss any major action if you don't pick up the game at launch. The best option, in that matter, would be to like always wait for the holiday sales, where the game can be found for less than half of its original price.

Beyond my expectations, EA Sports FC 27 feels like a game that has some ambition behind it, but it still has its own shortcomings. With continuous updates catered towards performance, I think EA can manage to make FC 27 a major upgrade over its predecessors.